Analyze the following scenario by incorporating what you learned in Chapters 9 & 10 of your textbook and answer the following question:

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are the leading competitors in the market for cola products. In 1960 Coca-Cola introduced Sprite, which today is among the worldwide leaders in the lemon-lime soft drink market and ranks in the top 10 among all soft drinks worldwide. Prior to 1999, PepsiCo did not have a product that competed directly against Sprite and had to decide whether to introduce such a soft drink. By not introducing a lemon-lime soft drink, PepsiCo would continue to earn a $200 million profit, less than Coca-Cola's profit of $300 million.

Suppose that by introducing a new lemon-lime soft drink, one of two possible strategies could be pursued:

PepsiCo could trigger a price war with Coca-Cola in both the lemon-lime and cola markets.

Coca-Cola could acquiesce and each firm would maintain its current 50/50 split of the cola market,while splitting the lemon-lime market 30/70 (PepsiCo/Coca-Cola).

If PepsiCo introduced a lemon-lime soft drink and a price war resulted, both companies would earn profits of $100 million. Alternatively, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo would earn $275 million and $227 million, respectively.

If PepsiCo introduced a lemon-lime soft drink and Coca-Cola acquiesced, they could split the markets.

Imagine you are a manager at PepsiCo and explain your answer to the following question:

Would you try to convince your colleagues that introducing the new soft drink is the most profitable strategy by explaining the reasoning and theoretical analysis? Why or why not?